And So Maybe
by pladskrtgrl
Summary: Ever wonder how Dumbledore and McGonagall go to be such good friends? They've been through a lot together but still come out on top.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is a story about how Dumbledore and McGonagall got to be friends…just thought it would be interesting. Let me know what you think ;)

And So Maybe 

And so maybe, when she first met him, she was a little head over heals. After all, he was a bit famous. Of course not as famous as he was going to be, but well known in the wizarding community at the very least. A brilliant professor and part of the Wizengamot. He was most definitely noticeable. And Handsome. His hair was long and deep red, his beard only half the length it was going to be. He had wonderful fashion sense too, and always brave enough to wear more feminine colors such as purple.

She had first met him when he came to interview her. He was the new headmaster of Hogwarts and he was looking for a replacement for himself as Transfiguration teacher. It was early in the morning when he knocked on her flat's door. She was uncharacteristically nervous as she twisted the doorknob and welcomed him in.

"Can I get you some bee, I mean, _tea_, Professor?"

Professor Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling, "Well as much as I love bees I think I'd prefer a spot of tea, please."

She bustled into the kitchen and began pouring tea she had made earlier with her breakfast.

"So, Ms. McGonagall, why do you want this position at Hogwarts?" Dumbledore called from the living room where he had seated himself on her couch. She hurried out, levitating the tea.

"Well, I'm not getting any younger. I just want to do something more than teaching at the daycare at the Ministry," said Minerva, setting down the tea and sitting on a chair. Her job teaching pre-Hogwarts curriculum such as arithmetic and writing was becoming more tedious by the year. When she had gone through teacher training she had wanted to do much more than daycare teaching.

Dumbledore set down his tea and said, "I've looked over your résumé and you seem adequately able and willing. But I have just one question for you."

Minerva leaned a bit more on the edge of her seat, "Yes, Headmaster?"

"Do you ever smile?"

"I-er-of course I smile!"

"Because you're going to need humor with all the children around. You can't be overly stern with them, they tend to rebel."

Minerva was a bit taken aback. Nobody ever told her she was too strict or stern or the like. She had her way of doing things and that was how she was. Nevertheless, she allowed her stiff face a small turn-up of her lips resulting in Dumbledore grinning like the madman he was.

"All right, then, that's all the proof I need. Welcome to the Staff of Hogwarts, Professor McGonagall."

"Oh, thank you! Thank you so much, Headmaster."

"Please," he said, standing, "Call me Dumbledore." And with that he disapparated.

And so maybe she was still impressed with him. But she had come far from hero-worshipping him as she had at first. Now any feelings she had about him were platonic appreciation of his attitude and stance on the many issues of the wizarding world. She was honored to be his colleague. They were often seen conferring together when Dumbledore had a few moments of break.

On this morning though, nearly 10 years after she had come to Hogwarts, Minerva was seething. She had dealt with every student who had passed through Hogwart's doors in the last decade but none had ever proved so troublesome as Sirius Black and James Potter. She could no longer control them and she was looking to Dumbledore for a bit of help.

"Smoochlez Pops," she spat at the gargoyle guarding his office. She stomped up the spiraling staircase, getting to his door as quickly as possible and not even bothering to knock.

"Dumbledore!" she said sharply. He looked up from his book and smiled.

"Oh, Minerva, I'm so glad you're here. I was just reading this book and I've come up with a very interesting theory-"

"Save your theories, Dumbledore! Look!" She whipped off her pointed hat and bent her head so that Dumbledore could inspect its top.

"Holy Hippogriffs! Minerva what have you done to yourself?" He sounded serious but she could see a bit of a glint in his eye as he gazed at the bald spot on her crown. She guessed it was probably shining in the candle light, making it even more humorous.

"What have I done to myself? What have _I_ DONE TO _MYSELF_? _HOW ABOUT WHAT HAVE POTTER AND BLACK DONE TO ME?_ Hmm, HOW 'BOUT THEM?"

"Ok, what have Mr. Potter and Mr. Black done to you?"

"Dueling in the back of class, that's what! One of Black's spells ricocheted off of Potter's glasses and hit me! Dumbledore, I'm bald!" Minerva wailed.

"Oh, come now Minerva, its all right." Dumbledore, laughing heartily now, tapped his wand to her head and hair grew back long and black and twisted itself into the bun already present at the nape of her neck.

"Thank you, Headmaster. Now what am I going to do about them?"

"Never you mind them, I'll have a chat with them when I see them. Now there is something I've wanted to speak to you about. Please sit down. As I'm sure you know, Deputy Headmaster Feilious is leaving at the end of next month and I want you-"

"Oh, please don't ask me to take Defense Against the Dark Arts! I'm so happy in Transfiguration. I can teach them so much…" she trailed off as she saw that Dumbledore wanted to speak again.

"Minerva, I'm not asking you to leave Transfiguration. You're wonderful there. But I am asking you, as the best teacher Hogwarts has, to take on the duties of Deputy Headmistress."

Minerva sat back for a moment, contemplating what Dumbledore had just said. She was, to be honest, quite stunned.

"Do you think I could do it, Dumbledore?"

"Most assuredly."

"I'll think about it."

"All right then."

They sat in silence for a few moments and then Dumbledore said, "Are you thinking about it now or should we move on to other conversation?"

Minerva shot him a glare and said, "Fine I'll do it. But don't you expect me to jump in and be able to handle it all. I'm going to need a little help along the way."

"I live to serve, Minerva."

"Fine."

"Well, I do believe I'll go seek out Messrs. Black and Potter and have a little chat with them."

"Thank you."

"Any time, Deputy Headmistress."

And so maybe they were not just colleagues anymore. They were friends. Best friends, probably. It had been five years since Minerva had become Deputy Headmistress and the time spent running the school together had made them even closer. Their friendship even rivaled that of seventh-years Sirius and James. In the time of darkness true friends were rare finds.

Minerva found Dumbledore in a back hallway, not used by students. It faced out towards the snowy grounds and the forest, revealing much through its wide, metal-paned, clear-glassed windows.

"Dumbledore? What are you doing here?"

Dumbledore sighed deeply and said, "Thinking. Watching the students."

Minerva could see that he was deeply troubled by some enigma of life. It was becoming more and more usual for her to find him like this. It made her sad to see him so worried so often. The threats of Voldemort and his Death Eaters were progressively worse. As deputy headmistress she had been helping Dumbledore put more and more wards around the school in the past years, to ensure protection of the students.

"Are you sure these are necessary? He would never attack here, you're the only one he fears," she had asked him one summer as the worked around the perimeter of the lake.

"If I did less to protect the students because of that arrogance and something ever happened…I wouldn't be able to forgive myself," he had responded.

Back in the present Minerva said, "What is it this time, Dumbledore?"

"Come here, look out the window."

Minerva obliged and stood before him and gazed out at the grounds. It was white and glistening. Tree boughs looked delicate rays of ice and the ground appeared to be covered in diamonds. A couple was strolling around the lake, hand in hand, and the Hufflepuff quidditch team was practicing over at the pitch. Joyful younger students were erecting armies of snowmen. Fifth and Sixth year Herbology classes were in the vegetable patch working on the project (examining the winter hibernation of speech-capable plants). Closest to the castle were Lily Evans and James Potter who had been inseparable since October. Minerva and Dumbledore watched as Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew snuck up with snowballs and attacked the two unsuspecting victims.

"What am I supposed to be looking at?" Minerva asked uncertainly.

"Just them. Just Hogwarts and the students. It's amazing."

Minerva nodded, "You've done well with the school, Dumbledore."

"Oh, I won't pretend to have done all of that. It's people like them that bring all this happiness in a time like this." Dumbledore inclined his head to where James and Lily were running away from their snowball-wielding friends. Ecstasy was plainly written on their faces as the five yelled and tackled each other, growing snowier by the moment. "If there is any way to defeat Voldemort," Dumbledore continued, "It's by loving life as they do."

And so maybe they were sharing with each other. There were good and bad times and all were with each other. Sadness and elation walked hand in hand at that time. Every gain the Order made came with a loss not so far behind. Dumbledore was working hard and Minerva could see the tiredness behind his eyes. Then they got the news. Voldemort was gone and little Harry Potter was an orphan. This saddened Dumbledore more than everyone else. Minerva went to Privet Drive to wait for him to come. They, with Hagrid, said good-bye to the toddler.

They returned to Hogwarts and woke all the students. Although they had already had the Halloween Feast just hours before Dumbledore felt that it was right to have a special breakfast filled with pies, cakes and ice creams for everyone. Also, a black banner was hung behind the Headmaster's chair in honor of Lily and James Potter.

A few minutes of quiet were devoted to them and then the children were dismissed. Many parents had sent requests for their children to be sent home for the week, in celebration of the safety finally achieved. Finally, that night, several of the professors slipped out of the school quietly and apparated from Hogsmeade. They arrived outside an underground building that was the original Order of the Phoenix headquarters. Dumbledore and Minerva stood next to each other.

"Are you ready to go in?" Dumbledore asked her, as she looked rather frazzled.

"It is just going to feel rather odd, don't you think? Without Sirius and James kidding around and Lily and Alice sitting together while Neville and Harry play on the hearthrug?" Minerva said.

"Is it not going to feel rather odd finally coming here and not having to think about defense or dark magic? At least for the present," Dumbledore answered sagely.

She nodded assent and walked to the wooden doors with him. They hauled them open and walked into the concrete hall lit with torches. All the others who had arrived with them had moved on but there was a lone figure in the hallway. His robes were black and there were bloodstains on them, which were by then two days old. His shaggy black hair covered his face until he looked up. Then the anguish became clear. The handsome features looked broken and the face was pale. Redness of the eyes revealed tears to have already been shed.

"Professor Dumbledore," Sirius said walking over to the two, "I didn't tell Voldemort, I swear it! We changed at the last second-"

"Sirius," Dumbledore said with harshness in his voice. "Stop."

"You don't believe me. I thought you would trust me!" Sirius growled. He stared at them desperately but that quickly disappeared and complete hate came forth. He swept away, rushing at top speed out the door.

"What did he mean?" Minerva asked.

"Couldn't you smell that? He reeks of their blood. And it's his fault."

"Dumbledore?"

The old man sighed and decided to tell her. "He was Lily, James and Harry's secret keeper."

Minerva sucked in a breath and they stood gaping at the door where Sirius had just left through. Outside they heard a torturous howl like a wounded hound. They looked at each other sadly but continued on to the mess hall for the celebration of the Order of the Phoenix and the mourning of the loss of the eldest Potters.

And so maybe they had gotten very comfortable with each other after all those years together. They said what they wanted to say when they wanted to say it whether or not they thought they were being nosy or meddling. So when Minerva first hear the news she waited for Dumbledore outside his office, pacing back and forth until she finally heard the click of his heals on the stone floor.

"Dumbledore, we need to talk. Now."

He nodded wearily but kept walking. She jogged after him, trying to pull him out of his thoughts and make him pay attention.

"Maybe in private, Headmaster."

"Everyone already knows, Minerva, its not like they'll overhear anything new."

She sighed with frustration, "Well we could at least keep them from hearing it from us, they're parents might have fits. But if you insist, what's going on? I know they got past all the spells and found the stone. I've heard bits and pieces from the students but you know how that is. Always adding this and that-"

"He's back."

"Excuse me?"

"Maybe not fully back, but he is not dead, just as I'd feared ten years ago. He'll keep trying, keep pushing. He won't rest until Harry is dead. Then once he's killed him, he'll go on with the extermination of everything not pure-blood."

Minerva rose a shaking hand to here throat and a coughed a bit before responding, "You-know-who really is…alive?"

"Yes."

"And Potter is his target again."

"Most definitely."

"Poor boy."

"Yes, yes he is."

There was a bit of silence. Then Minerva said, "Whatever it is that you know that you won't tell me that has to do with Harry, you have to tell him."

"I know."

"Or else."

Dumbledore chuckled, "Or what, you'll curse me?"

"What else would I do?" she said, lightening the moment with a rare smile.

And so maybe times had changed. Fear was back in their lives and they were doing their best to combat it. They could feel the pull and push of the world and the strain it was having on their friendship. Yet, they were not letting it get to them. They were not going to let Voldemort stop one of the most important things both of them had. They had to support each other, and they knew it.

Minerva was early for the Order of the Phoenix meeting. She had come before most everyone else because she wanted to talk to Dumbledore in private before everyone else came and began to bother him with this and that. There was something she had to tell him-

"Oh, Professor!" she heard Hermione say startling her slightly.

"Hello, Miss Granger. How are you?"

"Fine, thanks. I'm just going to head back upstairs. Ron had sent me down for snack, don't want to keep him waiting," Hermione said holding up a bag of popcorn that kept changing from buttered to salt to caramel. The young girl hurried upstairs. Just then someone opened the door from the outside and slid in quickly. Minerva turned back, wand raised as precaution. She sighed when she saw it was only Dumbledore.

"Come on, she said, dragging him by his arm down the hall until they reached the downstairs bathroom. She pulled him into the silver and gold decorated room and magically locked the door.

"Minerva, what's going on?"

"Umm…how is Potter?"

"Fine last I checked. Why the sudden interest?"

"Well, erhm, I don't know. Just that I'm his head of house and such…"

"Minerva, you're not making sense, what's wrong?"

"Oh, well, I just-" she stopped as he gave her a stern look. "I'm so afraid, Dumbledore."

He began to say, "We all are" but instead he told her, "So am I."

"Don't tell me that. You're supposed to be the strong one."

He sighed. "I know that is what everyone thinks, but I'm not, I'm just as scared as everyone else. Voldemort was supposed to be gone and now…I feel like I should be doing more."

"You're doing plenty already. Just tell me we're going to be alright."

"I can't promise that, you know I can't."

"Yes, but…well, I don't know what I'd do if anything ever happened to you, Dumbledore," she said quietly.

His face softened from the worry it had carried moments before, "I feel the same way, Minerva."

They glanced at each other and then Dumbledore pulled her into a stiff embrace. Then hearing other Order members arrive they left the bathroom quickly earning questioning glances from Fred and George Weasley who were being shooed upstairs by their mother.

And so maybe they were not best friends any more. They had moved on from friends. They had become soul mates. Not the kind that meet and fall magically in love. Minerva and Albus were a different kind entirely. Most definitely not romantic. Yet, they knew what the other was thinking. They knew how to help each other. They could run a school smoothly together. And despite their disagreements, they still loved each other immensely. They were there for each other through it all.

Times had changed from when they first met. It was no longer the peaceful world where the worst that might have happened was a student falling off a broom. Now it was not just managing a school, but it was protecting a fortress. Dumbledore had been right not to allow arrogant thoughts of his ability to scare Voldemort to keep him from protecting the school. For now the school harbored the one thing Voldemort wanted to be rid of more than anything. Harry Potter.

Throughout the year Minerva was there, backing Dumbledore completely against Voldemort and degrading attacks of the Ministry. She was with him entirely. When he left the school she felt lost. She could not even take on the duties of Headmistress in his absence because of that dreadful Umbridge woman. She felt like she had failed Dumbledore. Especially when she was lying in a hospital bed in St. Mungo's, barely lucid but knowing she was not at Hogwarts where she needed to be. She needed to protect the children.

She returned as soon as she could after she heard about the Department of Mysteries incident. Minerva was worried about Dumbledore. He was out of hiding and yet to even drop her an owl let alone visit. She knew he would have if it were possible.

So on the day she was released from the hospital she apparated (although she had been told not to put herself through to much physical stress) to Hogsmeade and hurried up the path to the school. After a quick run in with Snape, Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle and Harry (whom, she noted, looked very drawn and angry) she continued, now empty handed, due to the lovely volunteer of Crabbe and Goyle to put away her things, to Dumbledore's office. The halls were mostly devoid of students because the weather was so beautiful and they were all outside. She walked briskly, her hard-soled shoes tapping loudly. Dumbledore's gargoyle appeared sooner than she expected and she gave the password.

It was when she stepped on the spiraling staircase that she felt it. Utter despair was emanating from the very office. She jumped up the steps, her worry increasing ten-fold. She flung her hand to the doorknob but it would not turn.

"Open up! Come on, I know you're in there! I'm worried about you," She said at the top of her voice so that Dumbledore could hear her through the thick wood. After a few seconds the door creaked open revealing the office. She stepped in and the first thing she noticed was how cold and dark it was. No torches were lit and although it was June the temperature was more like that of early April. In fact, the only thing that seemed remotely warm and bright was Fawkes, who glowed somewhat dismally in the corner. Dumbledore sat at his desk, fingers bridged as usual and staring off in to space.

"Albus?"

"I think I've ruined his life."

"Who's?"

"Harry's," Dumbledore said, allowing tears to leak from his eyes.

Minerva walked over to him and put her arms around his shoulders. He began to sob like the little boy he had not been for decades. She ran her hand awkwardly up and down his back. "Oh, Albus," she said, shouldering his pain as best she could, "What have you done?"


	2. AN

Author's Note

OK, please don't kill me for this not being a real chapter but keep reading so you know what this is about. I was so touched by how many reviews I've gotten and from so many new and different people. I wasn't planning on adding to the story because I was trying to keep it to cannon with what Dumbledore and Minerva have gone through together. But I'll make you a deal, after I finish the sixth book, which it will probably only take me a few days until I'm done, I might do a new chapter. It will be about whatever happens to them in HBP. I'll definitely try to do a new one. Thank you so much for all the nice things you've said.

3 Pladskrtgrl


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